10 years of Farkin Rotorburnery
- Thread starter Ivan
- Start date
moorey
call me Mia
eyes
Likes Bikes and Dirt
You should have come to the pub and rehydrated...
10 year anniversary... seems like just yesterday Dom was telling me about a website that some of his mates had started. Might be worth a little trip down memory lane.
My first proper mountain bike. My dad bought this for me when I was in grade 9 or 10 from a cop auction in Cairns. Had a full XT group set Araya rims and I thought it was awesome! Although I still have no idea what bike it is?
In grade 12 I moved on up to a Trek 9200 bought off a mate from work for around $1500. My first full suspension bike and I think one of the first ever full suspension bikes. I thing either the Gary Fisher RS1 or the GT RTS are the only other contenders. I upgraded the Trek forks to some RST 381DH forks, added some Speed Freak rims (because thats what Palmer was riding) and built my own chain guides. I don't have a picture of my bike but this is the same model. mine had the rubber bumper on the rear shock which I upgraded with a steel spring bought from a random spring shop in Cairns. I also had the frame painted blue with a polished swing arm.
Once I got to uni in Brisbane I sold the Trek and was without a bike for a few months. Not having a whole lot of cash I splashed out on a new Avanti Hotdog hardtail. I upgrade the forks from Judy DH's to Psylo's when I bought the bike and after a few months upgraded to XT disc brakes... Still the best brakes I've ever used. Thats Ivan's newer Avanti hotdog in the background.
I moved in with Ivan around 2nd or 3rd year uni and the riding stepped up a notch. I bought a Mongoose NX9.7 frame for $350 off another Farker and built it up with the parts from the Avanti. I didn't have this bike for too long, the shock was ridiculously under sprung and I never really liked the look of it. Again I don't have a picture of my bike but i'm pretty sure this was the same model or something very similar.
I sold the frame to a Farker and upgraded to a Second hand Oryx DH01. Bought from Kris Bust ... a bit of a cairns legend if anyone remembers him? This thing was a weapon, adjustable from 4 - 10 inches with a ridiculous amount of geometry adjustments. I had it set at 8 inches and would do everything from DH, cross country and even a bit of trials riding in the city! I know they never had the best reputation but the RST forks were also some of the plushes forks I've ever ridden!
Ivan and I ended up selling all our bikes and parts and headed off to South America with a few other mates. Once I came back I was without a bike for a while until I found a job. I was getting a bit old for DH so ended up buying this Specialized Enduro sight unseen from a Farker in Melbourne. I had some great times on this bike getting into a bit more cross country but still heading into the city for some street riding. I upgraded the shock to a DHX5 air after blowing the 5th element but apart from that this was a dream bike.
I started commuting into work and didn't love riding the specialized in the rain. Even though I never thought I would do it i bought my first ever road bike. A single speed Giant Bowrey for $800. This thing was great for smashing into work on although i seem to remember getting a fair few flats.
After a few years it was time to take off again so I sold all the bikes (to other Farkers of course) and moved over to the UK for two year. I didn't have a bike whilst I was over there but I did manage to go on a few cycling tours and even thought about buying a touring bike and taking off around europe... although that never happened.
So that brings up to the present day I saved up a bit of cash after coming back from the UK, being a bit older and not too interested in hurting myself I bought myself a bit of a dream bike. A Specialized Sworks Epic. It's such a great bike, riding something so light was quite a revelation but it still feels crazy solid through pretty much everything. The only hiccup happened one night when I dropped it in the garage and cracked the frame. A few weeks later I picked up a crash replacement from Specialized for a reasonable price. although I wish it was the Black colour scheme it;s still a great bike.
A few of the guys have moved to the darkside and I still ride to work everyday so it was road bike time again. Having a real job now I went out and bought a TCR Advanced SL. It's fun to commute on and bust out a few early morning K's on the weekend. Ask me 10 years ago if i would wear lycra and I would have laughed in your face!
So thats my 10 years of being on Farkin / Rotorburn...
My first proper mountain bike. My dad bought this for me when I was in grade 9 or 10 from a cop auction in Cairns. Had a full XT group set Araya rims and I thought it was awesome! Although I still have no idea what bike it is?
In grade 12 I moved on up to a Trek 9200 bought off a mate from work for around $1500. My first full suspension bike and I think one of the first ever full suspension bikes. I thing either the Gary Fisher RS1 or the GT RTS are the only other contenders. I upgraded the Trek forks to some RST 381DH forks, added some Speed Freak rims (because thats what Palmer was riding) and built my own chain guides. I don't have a picture of my bike but this is the same model. mine had the rubber bumper on the rear shock which I upgraded with a steel spring bought from a random spring shop in Cairns. I also had the frame painted blue with a polished swing arm.
Once I got to uni in Brisbane I sold the Trek and was without a bike for a few months. Not having a whole lot of cash I splashed out on a new Avanti Hotdog hardtail. I upgrade the forks from Judy DH's to Psylo's when I bought the bike and after a few months upgraded to XT disc brakes... Still the best brakes I've ever used. Thats Ivan's newer Avanti hotdog in the background.
I moved in with Ivan around 2nd or 3rd year uni and the riding stepped up a notch. I bought a Mongoose NX9.7 frame for $350 off another Farker and built it up with the parts from the Avanti. I didn't have this bike for too long, the shock was ridiculously under sprung and I never really liked the look of it. Again I don't have a picture of my bike but i'm pretty sure this was the same model or something very similar.
I sold the frame to a Farker and upgraded to a Second hand Oryx DH01. Bought from Kris Bust ... a bit of a cairns legend if anyone remembers him? This thing was a weapon, adjustable from 4 - 10 inches with a ridiculous amount of geometry adjustments. I had it set at 8 inches and would do everything from DH, cross country and even a bit of trials riding in the city! I know they never had the best reputation but the RST forks were also some of the plushes forks I've ever ridden!
Ivan and I ended up selling all our bikes and parts and headed off to South America with a few other mates. Once I came back I was without a bike for a while until I found a job. I was getting a bit old for DH so ended up buying this Specialized Enduro sight unseen from a Farker in Melbourne. I had some great times on this bike getting into a bit more cross country but still heading into the city for some street riding. I upgraded the shock to a DHX5 air after blowing the 5th element but apart from that this was a dream bike.
I started commuting into work and didn't love riding the specialized in the rain. Even though I never thought I would do it i bought my first ever road bike. A single speed Giant Bowrey for $800. This thing was great for smashing into work on although i seem to remember getting a fair few flats.
After a few years it was time to take off again so I sold all the bikes (to other Farkers of course) and moved over to the UK for two year. I didn't have a bike whilst I was over there but I did manage to go on a few cycling tours and even thought about buying a touring bike and taking off around europe... although that never happened.
So that brings up to the present day I saved up a bit of cash after coming back from the UK, being a bit older and not too interested in hurting myself I bought myself a bit of a dream bike. A Specialized Sworks Epic. It's such a great bike, riding something so light was quite a revelation but it still feels crazy solid through pretty much everything. The only hiccup happened one night when I dropped it in the garage and cracked the frame. A few weeks later I picked up a crash replacement from Specialized for a reasonable price. although I wish it was the Black colour scheme it;s still a great bike.
A few of the guys have moved to the darkside and I still ride to work everyday so it was road bike time again. Having a real job now I went out and bought a TCR Advanced SL. It's fun to commute on and bust out a few early morning K's on the weekend. Ask me 10 years ago if i would wear lycra and I would have laughed in your face!
So thats my 10 years of being on Farkin / Rotorburn...
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